Set in Stone
by MumblePhantomFox
Summary: A.R.; Previously on Speed Racer, Speed, X, Alpha and Chim-Chim vanished without a trace. But where did they go and will they ever return?
1. Author's Note

**Author's Note:**

Before we get into this, I'd like to advise you to use caution when reading this. Please keep in mind that this is merely my own depiction of what I think should/might happen after 'Racing with the Enemy Part 3', and is thereby entirely my opinion. I'm not saying that the following story couldn't happen; there is a 1 in 100 chance that one of my theories is correct.

That being said, also know that this does not only apply to the plot, but to other details as well. The way I see it is that the Academy is about a third of the way between San Manuel and Florence, making it near Mammoth, Arizona. Rocket Air (a.k.a. The Committee's Evil HQ of DOOM!) is west of the Academy, around 30-40 miles Southeast of Coolidge. For the sake of sanity, lets say that Speed Jr. wasn't dumped in the little town of Barselnome (best comprehension I could manage, stupid announcers...) that they mentioned in 'The Beginning Part 1'. Where he was born and left in this story is merely like it is for convenience more than anything and shall be mentioned later.

I DON'T OWN SPEED RACER OR SPEED RACER: THE NEXT GENERATION, NOR DO I OWN ANYTHING ASSOCIATED WITH IT. The gods haven't even blessed me with merchandise, so don't sue me or my overuse of gigantinormous words in this note. D:

Now that that's out of the way, I'd like to introduce my manifested form of muse, X!

**Muse X:** Yo.

He'll be making sure that I update at least somewhat regularly, don't hurt the characters too much and lessen my overuse of the words "slightly" and "somewhat" when describing stuff. He shall also be doing the honors.

**Muse X: **YAY! Read, Review, Stay in School, Don't do Drugs and most importantly, ENJOY!

On with the story!


	2. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1  
>Decisions, Decisions...<strong>

* * *

><p>"Speed, if you don't give me that part you are going to regret this!"<p>

"No I'm not, you are! Chim-Chim, stun X!"

That was a mistake. Chim-Chim did as Speed asked, but as soon as his metal paw made contact with X's new jet black uniform, there was a blinding flash. The world turned black.

Speed coughed and opened his eyes slowly as he came to his senses. He was laying face down on the ground. The Hourglass part was only a few inches from his fingertips. He pushed himself to his feet and picked up the part, his head throbbing as he looked around. They were stranded in the middle of the desert. X was lying on his side, apparently unconscious, and a distressed Chim-Chim was nudging Alpha Leader nearby. Speed narrowed his eyes at X before hurrying over to Alpha and kneeling beside him. Chim-Chim made a few anxious bloops and Speed shushed him. Alpha was barely breathing, alarming Speed.

Whatever the part had done, they had all suffered side effects. Alpha had already been ill beyond repair and X had gotten the full blow. Speed was trembling slightly. If either of them were dead, it was his fault. He would be a murderer. He checked X just to make sure he was okay. After all, he _was_ his brother, no matter how much of a jerk he had been recently. X was fine, and appeared to be stirring, making Speed wonder how long he had been out himself.

Speed looked around some more, anxiously squinting into the distance for any sign of civilization. There was nothing but sand and some cacti. X moaned and coughed behind him. "Wha-? Wait a sec…"

X jumped to his feet and Speed clenched his fists. "What the heck? Where are we!" Speed whipped around, his blue eyes flashing. "As if I know!" X gritted his teeth and marched up to his brother. "This is all your fault!" he growled. Speed felt like punching him in the face. "_My_ fault? I'm not the one who joined the Shadow Committee then pushed his brother off a cliff!"

"What choice did I have? Alpha was dying!"

"Oh, so you figured I should be dead too, then?"

They both paused, looking at each other in horror. Alpha was still dying and he had just been stunned. Speed shot another glare at X before jumping back down to Alpha Leader's side. He still wasn't stirring and Speed could only find a faint pulse. Sweat beading on his forehead from anxiety as well as the heat, Speed struggled to lift his limp form. X stared at the effort in shock. "Don't move him you idiot! You'll kill him!" he said.

Speed grunted under the weight. "Well what do you think we should do? Leave him in the middle of the dessert to fry while we twiddle our thumbs? I don't think so. Now, whether you're coming or not, I'm going to find someone who can help us." X couldn't think of anything to say. He simply stood there for a second as Speed began to walk away. Gulping, he jogged forward and took half of the weight, Chim-Chim skittering in front of them and pulling a compass and a map out of his belly. None of them said anything; There really wasn't much to say, and then wasn't the time to start a fight.

Right then, with the Arizona sun cooking the landscape around them, they were both thinking the same thing; they had to set their differences aside until they were home and safe. Neither of them liked the idea, but it seemed to be the only way to figure out how to get out of the mess.

Speed felt something brush against his hip, removing the pressure from his pocket. He was about to snap at Chim-Chim for taking the part, but thought better of it as the Chimpanzee stashed it safely inside his stomach. Speed gave a curt nod. "Good idea," he murmured, making the robot beep happily. One side of him had a touch of irritation, though. He didn't like it much that a _robot_ could come up with a better idea than he could.

He figured the heat was just getting to him.


	3. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2  
>Go get 'em!<strong>

* * *

><p>Speed Sr. was panting by the time he got back to the academy. Even with Damian's help, pushing the Mach 5 over a mile was no small task. Finally, they had gotten it back to Connor's garage.<p>

Damian wiped the sweat from his brow and stretched. "I'd better go tell Spritle that Speed's gone off to do the impossible. Again," he said, chuckling. Speed had opened the hood and was examining the engine. He didn't look up and merely mumbled in response. Damian frowned as his attempt to lighten the mood failed. Shaking his head, he left the garage. He was sure that the unruly teenagers would be ok, though he had his doubts.

Speed Sr. glanced over his shoulder as he heard the door slide shut behind Damian. Clenching his fists, he waited a few seconds to be safe. When he was sure he was alone, he slammed down the hood and kicked the car, ignoring the pain in his foot as he swore under his breath. Curse the infernal car! Both of his sons were in trouble and he couldn't do a thing about it because of the damned thing! Taking a breath he slumped down onto the bench near the wall, putting his hands over his eyes. He prayed that Speed would be ok. Maybe the boy wasn't afraid of the committee, but if he had no respect for them, he was doomed. They were a formidable bunch; a true force to be reckoned with.

Why couldn't they listen to him? X and Speed both constantly rushed into things head first and they never listened to his warnings. He knew for a fact that he wouldn't be able to cope if either were gone. That little part of him always grew anxious when he wasn't sure where they were. He supposed it was just a parent thing, but when people said 'You have to let them go some time', he didn't think they meant it like this!

He jumped up and stumbled as he heard voices and footsteps approaching, returning to the Mach 5 and forcing the hood open just in time for the door to slide open and allow Damian and Spritle to enter.

"I've said it before and I'll say it again, those kids are way over their heads!" Spritle said to him. Speed again only murmured in response, absently shutting the hood and sliding into the front seat. Spritle gulped. He hadn't seen Speed like this often; his stubbornness usually compensated for any bad news. This time appeared to be different. Spritle had to admit however, he would've been horrified if it hadn't.

Speed pulled out his key and attempted to start the car. It sputtered and sent a jolt of electricity up his arm before dying. He yelped and pulled his arm back, the strange numbing sensation spreading up to his shoulder before fading. Spritle jumped. "What happened?"

"A little trick Junior pulled to stop us. He slicked us and used his lazar saws on it. Somehow it managed to electrocute the Mach 5 and now it won't run," he supplied, turning back to Speed. "You okay?" Speed growled. "Stupid piece of trash… I'm fine," he grumbled. Spritle bit his lip. "Are you?"

Speed paused and mulled Spritle's question over for a second, he opened his mouth to answer, but quickly shut it and tried the key again, this time with a pair of pliers he dug from the glove box. Spritle didn't take being ignored as a good sign.

The engine sputtered and died several times, but he didn't give up. Damian was about to make a suggestion when Speed thumped the 'A' button on the steering wheel. The jacks jerked the car up two feet, throwing him from his perch in the front seat. He quickly got to his feet and brushed his jacket off, sliding under the car on Connor's creeper*. Damian shifted uneasily. "Are you sure it's safe to use the jacks like that? I mean, while the Mach 5 is practically totaled? Again?" he said, adding a smirk at his remark. Speed paused then shrugged. "Sure. If it falls on me you can always call a medic." _'Or don't and rid the world of its biggest screw up,'_ he thought bitterly.

Spritle's stubborn streak kicked in and he walked over, standing above his brother with his arms crossed. "Alright, out with it. Everything that's bothering you."

"You kidding? That'd take hours!"

Spritle rolled his eyes. "You know what I mean."

Speed sighed and pushed himself out from under the car, sitting up once he was clear of it. "I'm just worried about Speed, that's all," he muttered.

"He seemed confident enough. You know, when he electrocuted us," Damian offered bluntly. Speed looked up at him. "Yeah, too confident. He thinks he knows what he's getting into, but he has no idea and he never listens to me when I try to tell him." Damian frowned, but Spritle chuckled and knelt down beside him. "You know, that sounds familiar. Let's see… Where have I heard that before? I wonder…" he pondered softly, giving his brother a nudge. Speed sighed as memories flooded back to him. "I think that joining a racing team is quite a bit different than running headfirst into a secret society's headquarters."

Spritle put on a serious face. "How do you think Pops felt? You had run off with the Mach 5 and were about to do the same thing we thought Rex had died doing." Speed blinked. In all his years, he had honestly never thought of it that way. There was a moment of silence as Speed was thinking. "Well, you remember what Pops did. When I entered that race, he came along and cheered me on," he said finally, growing a determined look.

"Help me fix this thing; he'll need all the support he can get!"

* * *

><p>*I looked it up, and the rolling thing mechanics use to slide under cars is <em>actually called <em>a creeper. xD

**Muse X:** Yay! Longer chapter!  
>I know right? Hopefully the future chappters will mostly be this long as well...<br>**Muse X:** Heheh, Dad's ticked...  
>Oh yeah, the committee's gonna regret this. Don't forget to review! ;)<p> 


	4. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3  
>Wait... <em>Who?<em>**

* * *

><p>It seemed like they had traveled for hours.<p>

Judging by the sun, it wasn't a very farfetched guess either. A little ways in, they had Chim-Chim helping with Alpha's weight as well. When they were only walking one direction, it was hard to get any more lost than they already were. Turning the robot into what could only be described as a hang glider with wheels, he was soon relieving the two brothers of Alpha's weight.

Despite the improvement, Speed still felt like passing out. He hadn't eaten anything since his small 'lunch' earlier in the day. He was starting to regret not eating very much as the sun began its last decent, turning the sky violent shades of orange, pink and purple. Thankfully, none of them sunburned very easily so their faces were only pink. Even so, they were uncomfortably hot and their feet were aching in protest from hours of trekking over the rough terrain.

X wasn't faring much better, though he was determined not to show weakness. He never even glanced over at Speed. Right then, he didn't care much for his well-being; he just wanted to go home and wake up. Surely the past 16 years had been just some bad dream. He would wake up with no long lost relatives, raised by his parents and Speed would've had a family to look after him. He supposed that was why he was still mad at his father. Not for leaving him, but for leaving Speed. It wasn't even at some obscure relative's. It was at an _orphanage_.

Being stranded in desert Arizona gave them both a while to think.

By the time civilization was in view, Speed was having trouble staying awake and X was slouching considerably. Chim-Chim was doing fine, but looked depressed from not seeing Connor for so long. Speed and X were probably the only things that had kept him going for so long. Alpha Leader had only roused slightly, but he wasn't even strong enough to lift his head and had passed out again soon after. He had been on and off ever since.

Now, to their gratitude, they both collapsed at the foot of a large sign at the edge of a highway. Painted on it were some of the most appreciated words they had ever read; "Welcome to Florence!"

Speed layed on his back for a minute while X sat back up and removed his shoes in order to rub his feet. "Well, at least Florence has a hospital," Speed said, closing his eyes. "Yeah, then we can pay for it with air," X grumbled.

Speed opened his eyes and sent his brother a glare. "That or we could always just bury him now. I mean, why wait?" he snapped sarcastically.

"We need to figure out where we are."

Alpha's voice was so soft they almost missed it, shocking them both. Speed instantly got up and looked him over. "We're at Florence," X said.

Alpha coughed weakly before continuing unsteadily. "More specific. The Hourglass part can be very unpredictable, but everything it's done has one thing in common." Speed's eyes widened. "Oh god…"

X didn't get it. "What?" Speed gulped. "Never mind, we have to get Alpha to a hospital before we lose him." X studied his brother with a calculating stare before giving a curt nod.

With that, they got up and began walking again, following the highway. There weren't many cars this far out, but the ones that were were going too fast to stop. Even so, they could swear they were getting weird looks. Suddenly remembering why he was probably so hot, Speed took off his stolen goon outfit and abandoned it in a bush, feeling much better in just his casual clothing.

Thankfully, this journey wasn't as long and they had entered the city in about half an hour.

They took Alpha's weight again, allowing Chim-Chim to convert back into his normal form. The half-conscious teen only moaned softly in protest. "It's alright, we'll get you to a hospital and everything'll be fine," Speed reassured him softly, though it sounded as if he was trying to reassure himself more.

By now, X was noticing something odd and Speed's hopes were plummeting. "Speed, look at the cars… And since when did flannel shirts come back into style?" X pointed out, taking a good look around. Speed shifted Alpha's arm over his shoulder. "Just keep walking."

Finally, somebody pulled over. Speed and X paused as the window was rolled down. Inside the car, a middle-aged man was leaned over and looking up at them. "You guys need a lift?" he said in a young voice. Speed shifted uneasily, but X didn't hesitate. "Yes, please!"

"Hop in," the man said, smiling kindly as Speed opened the back door and got in, X following with Alpha Leader. "Where to?" the man asked, turning to face them. "The nearest hospital, please," Speed said. The man frowned and looked Alpha over. "Yikes, what happened?" he asked with worry. "It's complicated," Speed replied.

"Guess it's none of my business, huh?" he chuckled, turning back around. "I'm Wilson by the way. Wilson Sparkolemew. You can call me Sparky, though," he said. Speed and X both stopped dead, exchanging a glance. Trying to play it cool, Speed spoke first. "Nice to meet you, Sparky. I'm… Brendan and this is my brother X and our cousin Alpha."

X sent Speed a quizzical look and Speed shook his head ever so slightly. Sparky smiled. "Nice to meet you guys," he said before beginning to drive. Thankfully, he didn't ask any more questions and their ride was mostly silent.

* * *

><p><strong>Muse X:<strong> Hey, how come dad gets to have a more exciting adventure than me? D:  
>Don't worry, you'll trade in a bit. ;)<br>**Muse X:** Yay!


	5. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4  
>So Much Action, So Little Plan<strong>

* * *

><p>"Ah, I hate these little things!"<p>

Damian shot three more scorpion cars, two more taking their place. They had gotten the Mach 5 running and immediately Speed Sr. had jumped at the opportunity to aid his son. They had been going against the hybrid cars for 10 minutes now and it was becoming tiresome.

Spritle was in the Mach 5 with Speed driving. He looked into the rear view mirror. "Four of them, five, six, seven and eight o'clock," he said sharply. Speed waited for a second, slowing enough to allow them to catch up a bit more. The small robots shot at them several times and the car jerked forward in response. Speed growled and thumped the 'C' button on his steering wheel before spinning in a neat 360, cutting the scorpion cars nearly in half and sending them flying or skidding in every which way.

The good news was that there weren't many. However, the ones that had previously been attacking were dropping back suddenly, retreating back into the sandy dunes. Damian popped up on the Mach 5's comm. "Thank god, those little things were driving me _nuts_," he said with a laugh. Spritle shook his head. "I don't think that's a good thing, them dropping back like that," he said.

"Ignore it, just keep going," Speed said with a straight face. Ever since they had left, he had been no nonsense, keeping the same determined stare the entire time. He nearly floored the gas, accelerating quickly. Spritle gripped the seat. It had been a while since he had actually raced and going from behind the scenes to hairpin turns by Speed Racer himself wasn't a very smooth transition.

They sheltered behind a boulder as soon as their target destination was in sight, seeking out a subtle entrance. Spritle peered over the rock, squinting to make out the headquarters. The sky was beginning to dim and Speed was working with Damian, urgently trying to make a loose plan before it got entirely dark.

It was another good five minutes before something actually happened. Spritle's eyes widened as he saw it; somewhere in the depths of the building, there was a flash. If he hadn't been examining every detail of the building for that long, Spritle would've missed it entirely. He froze; was that the Mach 6? Of course not, it couldn't be. What were those three cars tailing it? All four vehicles were pulling around the facility. Spritle jumped and pulled Speed away from his planning session.

The man protested, but soon spotted the cars in time for them to disappear into the building. He whipped around to face Damian. "Screw a plan, they have Speed and the Mach 6!" he said, failing at his attempts to keep his voice down.

He bolted to the Mach 5, leaping over the window and into the front seat like he used to when he was younger. "We still need a plan!" Damian cried out, but his words were lost in the roar of the engine as Speed sped away. Spritle and Damian both stared after him for a moment.

"That idiot…" Damian grumbled, the two of them jumping into his own car. They immediately took off after him.

Speed apparently wasn't patient enough to find his own entrance. He had other plans; he pressed two buttons, turning on the bulletproof deflector above him and his tire-belts. Just as he had expected, when Damian saw that he didn't plan on slowing down, he blasted a hole in the wall for him. The Mach 5 powered easily through the dust and rubble created by the explosion. Damian entered behind him.

Five goons had already run towards the sound of the blast. Speed turned off the deflector and jumped out of the car. The goons and the racer ran towards each other, clashing and the fight almost immediately went towards Speed's favor.

One of them threw a punch, but he ducked and kicked out his leg, tripping the goon and toppling him into another. Standing up quickly, he got into a boxing match with another while Spritle and Damian took on the other two. They weren't martial artists like Speed, but they were still able to beat the goons back with fairly little difficulty.

Speed had won his little match, ending with him pumped and ready to go and the goon knocked out on the floor. Spritle and Damian were both on edge, but had no choice other than to follow as Speed snuck out of the room and proceeded down the halls. They didn't run into anybody important on the way, just goons and mechanics and the like. The goons would try to put up a fight, but most were easily intimidated. The few other staff they saw didn't try to mess with them much, though Spritle and Damian were becoming more and more anxious. Surely everyone in the committee had been alerted to their presence by now?

They finally burst into a wide open and dimly illuminated room. For a split second they could hardly see a thing. When their eyes begun to adjust, they saw that it was round with a domed roof, glass cases along the walls with assorted gadgets and an empty pedestal in the center of the room. They also saw that they weren't alone. "So glad you could join us. I wasn't sure if you'd find your way," said a warped voice. The shadow lady stood next to the pedestal, fingering a small device in her fingers. It looked like a wristwatch without a face. Several goons were standing erect about the room in addition to the shadow lady. Connor, Lucy and Annalise were standing near the opposite wall, their hands tied behind their backs.

The shadow lady held the watch up as a male voice with a heavy English accent emanated from it. Evidently, it was a small communicator. "We have the Mach 6 under strict surveillance. Any other orders, eh wot?" the voice said. "Excellent. Guard it carefully, do whatever it takes, nobody gets in that room but me and anyone I've approved," she responded. "Right you are. Cheerio!"

The small screen darkened once more. Speed surveyed the room quickly. "Where are X and Speed, what have you done with them?" he demanded angrily, clenching his fists. His eyes blazed as she laughed. "You should get your facts straight. The mess they're in now is their own fault," she said. Damian grabbed Speed's collar to make sure he stayed put.

"What do you mean, mess?" Spritle asked wearily. The shadow lady appeared mildly irritated.

"Them, Alpha Leader and that robot are gone forever."

* * *

><p><strong>Muse X:<strong> Ouch. That'll sting.  
>Yeppers. :) It looks like main characters fail at life wether they have a plan or not... Somebody should work on that.<p> 


	6. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5  
>Say what?<strong>

* * *

><p>Sparky drove them to the hospital and they both thanked him. To their surprise, he actually gave them his number. "If you need any help, just call and I'll see what I can do," he had said before leaving them.<p>

Now that they were checked in, the doctors had assessed Alpha's critical condition and were treating him while the racer brothers sat in opposite sides of the waiting room.

X was looking through a magazine, bewildered at how dated it seemed. Speed was giving himself a headache trying to figure out how they were going to get back home. He glanced up at X, then something out of the corner of his eye caught his attention. He stood up and walked over to the side table beside his brother.

X glanced up at Speed as he picked up the topmost magazine from the pile and read the headline, his eyes wide. He searched for a date quickly. "Oh my god…" he whispered.

"What?" X mumbled looking up at his brother. Speed showed X the cover. He gaped at it. There was a picture of Speed Sr. and Trixie, both significantly younger than Speed had seen or imagined. The headline read;

**'Another Racer on the Tracks?'**

Speed sat in the empty chair next to X who abandoned his own magazine to look over his brother's shoulder. Chim-Chim, who had previously been hiding silently beneath Speed's old chair, darted across the room to the brothers as Speed flipped to the article and read aloud.

"Rumor has it that the world famous racer we all know and love, Speed Racer, and his wife Trixie racer are having another baby. The racers were unavailable for comment. Speed's younger brother and Navigations Instructor at Racer academy Spritle Racer, however, stated 'If they are having another baby, I have no knowledge of it and it would be likely that they are keeping it quiet,'" Speed read, skimming the article. "That's about it. After that it just talks about you and dad."

X looked over the article as well. "Heh, I took that class last year. I don't remember Spritle teaching it, though," he said as Speed let him have the magazine. The younger brother got up and walked over to the desk. The secretary glanced up at him and finished typing. "Any news on Alpha Leader's condition?" Speed asked. The secretary smiled, knowing who he was referring to. Right now, Alpha was the only one in critical condition. That, and he had been asking the same question every five minutes since they had arrived. Thankfully, she didn't seem annoyed. Yet.

The secretary shook her head. "Sorry, I haven't heard anything yet." Speed deflated slightly, hoping that they might've had something to say by now. "I'm sure we'll hear something soon," she continued sympathetically. Speed nodded. "I hope so," he murmured. He turned to leave, but stopped as he spotted a calendar. Praising every god he could think of, he walked over to it. It was flipped to April. The year in the corner said 1992. Every date was crossed out up to the 16th. Grinning inwardly, Speed sat back down in his chair next to X.

"We traveled back in time," Speed whispered. X looked up at his brother. "What?" Speed shushed him. "It's April 16th. When Chim-Chim tried to stun you, we must've accidentally activated the hourglass part. It sent us back in time!" X was bewildered. "Wait, what's this _'we'_? And why doesn't this sound like big news to you?" he said quietly.

"Well X, after being swallowed by a vortex shortly after dodging a war between pirates, Vikings and the British, I don't think this would seem like 'big news'," Speed said with a touch of irritability. "Yeah, just rub it in. I still think that dinosaur should've eaten a teacher, though," X grumbled, making Speed roll his eyes. However, the note of jealousy in his brother's voice did make him a bit uncomfortable.

It was another incredibly long and horrendously boring half an hour before there was any news about Alpha's condition. A handsome man in his early to mid thirties walked over to them.

"Good evening. I'm Dr. Fuller. Are you two with Alpha Leader?" he asked gently. The two of them straightened up even further. "Yeah," they said simultaneously. Chim-Chim peered out from under the chair and bleeped in agreement. The man glanced down at the robot. Thankfully, he spared them the explanation and didn't ask. "Is he ok?" Speed asked, forcing down a stream of questions. The doctor seemed to hesitate for a second.

"We aren't sure whether or not he's ok as of yet," he began. The brothers deflated visibly, but Dr. Fuller continued before either of them could say anything. "He's not getting much better, but he's not getting worst either. If you want to see him now, he's in room C4. Down the hall, take the first left, go up the stairs one flight, and it'll be near the end of the hall. If you need anything, let us now." Speed nodded and the doctor gave a small reassuring smile before leaving them.

Somewhat cautiously, they proceeded down the hallway to Alpha's room. Halfway up the stairs, Speed noticed that X was smirking. "What are you so happy about?" he asked, not meaning to sound as snappish as he did. X bit his lip and chuckled, trying hard not to laugh.

"He's in room C-4."

* * *

><p><strong>Muse X:<strong> Hmmm...  
>I know, this chapter sucks compared to the others. :P<br>**Muse X: **At least we're not dead.  
>Yeeeaah... o.O<br>**Muse X:** 'Bout to heat up?  
>Indeed! ;)<p> 


	7. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6  
>Unsettling News<strong>

* * *

><p>A shocked silence settled over the room as the news sank in.<p>

"Y-you don't mean…?" Spritle began, unable to finish. The shadow lady scoffed. "No, they aren't dead. Well, Alpha Leader might be, but the brothers should be fine. They're very much alive. They're simply, for lack of a better term, lost, for the time being," she stated indifferently.

Speed Sr. was completely still as he processed the news and his options, seeming to have turned to stone on the outside. Spritle felt weak and had to use a stunned Damian to hold himself up. Lucy was forcing back her tears while Connor whimpered quietly. Annalise simply stared at the floor.

The communicator came to life again and the shadow lady looked down at it. "I say, I do believe we got more than we bargained for! The goons report they've just stumbled upon none other than the Mach 5 itself! Would you like for us to take it in as well?" Lord Bowler's voice reported. The shadow lady smiled. "Of course, lock it up." Speed cursed under his breath and the shadow lady tittered. "Terrible luck today I trust? Pity," she continued.

With a wave of her hand, Spritle and Damian were jumped on and bound. Speed put up a half-hearted fight, but was tied up as well. Them and the teenagers were dragged from the room and down the maze of a hallway. Speed was thrown in a holding cell, Spritle and Damian in another and Connor, Lucy and Annalise into yet another.

Speed threw himself against the door repeatedly, his shoulder growing sore under the abuse. He knew this was his fault, it always traced back to him, but he knew he couldn't fix this one. His failing attempts grew weak until he finally kicked the door out of frustration and sat down by the wall, panting lightly.

Spritle and Damian listened to the thumps for a while, both of them feeling depressed. Damian still clung to scraps of hope. Those three were durable kids; he knew they'd pull through in the end. He'd seen them cheat death and get out of even the trickiest situations with barely a scratch to show for it. Even so, he found he was starting to doubt them. Speed and X were smart and strong, but looking at Alpha's condition, he wasn't sure he would make it. Spritle's reasonable thoughts were drowned out in the same worries a parent would have leaving their kid alone at home. He shut his eyes, trying to sort himself out, and found Damian's arm around his shoulders.

Lucy, Connor and Annalise could barely hear the small commotion Speed Sr. had caused, and they werent paying much attention anyway. Connor was in a state similar to Spritle, but was faring somewhat better due to the fact he was stating every question that hit his mind in rapid succession. Lucy had tears running down her cheeks. Alpha had been dying before, but now he was probably _dead _and she couldn't do a thing about it. Not to mention Speed. She couldn't imagine her life without either of them. She felt truly helpless.

Annalise seemed to be the only one with her thoughts straight. She was mildly worried, but was also taking a look at their own situation. She knew they wouldn't be able to do anything whether they were locked up at Rocket Air or not, but she'd rather be free. This kind of thinking gave her an advantage over the others.

"Connor, I know you're mentally scarred now, but would you _please_ stick a sock in it?" she growled as she examined the door. Connor sniffled and stopped talking. "I'm s-sorry. I just c-c-can't help it!" he wept, throwing himself down onto the floor. Annalise frowned in spite of herself, but ignored his whimpering as she tried to think of a way to get them out.

And so far, that was no small task.

* * *

><p>OH LORD MY FACE!<br>**Muse X: **That's what you get! Pfft, such a short chapter.  
>OW! QUIT IT!<br>**Muse X:** No.  
>Owww...<br>**Muse X: **Okay, I'm good.  
>Why did I have to pick the <em>buff<em> character to beat me up? D: Why not Connor?  
><strong>Muse X:<strong> 'Cause you luff me. :3  
>Ugh... Sorry about the wait for a short chapter, I've been busy. :P I'm not quiting this story though, don't worry. :) I have too many plans for it. :)<p> 


	8. Chapter 7

**Chapter 7  
>A Penny for your Thoughts<strong>

* * *

><p>"So you used a freaking robot monkey to zap us back in time?"<p>

Speed groaned. "For the five-_thousandth_ time, YES! We've been over this! And I didn't do it on purpose! You act like I wanted this," he growled. It had been nearly an hour and X was still trying to digest the news. He had been asking different versions of the same question for a while now and it was driving Speed insane. Every time his brother asked, Speed's thoughts on getting back to their own time period were interrupted. So far, he was unsuccessful.

And it wasn't just X interrupting his train of thought either. At almost every dead end or thought of home, he couldn't help but get sidetracked and worry about his friends or his father and uncle. He was beginning to regret running off like that, especially after that move he pulled on his dad. He winced at the thought of how worried he must be right then. It had been a good several hours since they had teleported which was way more than long enough for a worried parent to assume the worst, Speed had figured.

He gulped lightly. This sucked.

Meanwhile X was finally beginning to wrap his mind around what had happened. Ever since he had woken up, things had been a bit off and he hadn't been able to pinpoint an explanation. Now that he knew, it was a lot worst than he had originally assumed. Usually when he thought "off", time travel didn't come to mind.

He glanced over at Speed who was sitting in a small wooden chair that had been brought in so he didn't have to sit on the floor. Alpha was either asleep or unconscious (fear kept X from investigating any further) and X had positioned himself in the small recliner-like chair in the corner nearby the sink.

He almost felt bad for the kid. His younger brother went through more in a week than he had in his entire life. He couldn't even imagine what he had gone through from only an hour old. He shook his head and tried to prohibit any oncoming childhood memories. That was the past for a reason.

He looked over at Speed again. He looked as if he were almost asleep, his eyes closed, but X knew he was probably wide awake. Frowning, he shifted. No need to stay awake on purpose. Attempting to clear his mind, he closed his eyes and after a while he finally fell asleep.

Speed, however, wasn't too keen on sleeping just yet. After he finally heard his brother snoring softly, he opened his eyes and scanned over X. His chest was rising and falling slowly.

Silently, Speed sat up and stretched. X wasn't stirring. He let out a breath of relief and stood, walking out of the room and down the hall to the waiting room. He glanced at the clock. 10:56. He shook off the tug of homesickness at the thoughts of what his friends and family were doing. He'd left the academy shortly before 7:00 and his father was probably worried sick. He knew that if he hadn't already, he would without a doubt be going in after him any minute. He shook his head. He could worry about that when he got back to his own time.

He approached the desk. The secretary smiled kindly at him. "What can I do for ya'?" she said. Speed smiled back politely. "Do you have some paper and a pencil I could borrow?" he asked. The secretary nodded and dug three sheets of paper and a short pencil from behind the desk and handed them to him. "Bring the pencil back when you're done," she said. Speed nodded back. "Can do, thanks."

He quickly returned to Alpha's room and layed on the floor, the tile cool on his shirt. With a look of fierce concentration, he began to write.

* * *

><p>The next morning, X was the first to wake up.<p>

He had been having weird dreams last night. Goons wearing purple and yellow, a vision or two of his parents arguing over something he couldn't understand all of and a cold rush of wind playing with his hair as he ducked down protectively over something half his size while what sounded like a strong engine as it roared over a highway. Oh, and don't forget the explosion.

Naturally, he woke up feeling hot and nervous. Wiping the sweat off his forehead with the cuff of his sleeve, he was about to get up when he discovered that he wasn't in his bed. He jumped and looked around, hoping to see the Rocket Air Headquarters or the Academy or _something_ familiar. He calmed down when he remembered the accident with the hourglass part.

Speaking of which, where was Speed?

Instinctively he jumped up to investigate. Being kidnapped was never ruled out in his brother's case. Thankfully X was able to find his brother without much effort. The teen was sprawled on the floor, snoring softly with a pencil in one hand and three papers spread out in front of him. One was blank, and the other two were loosely filled with sketches, equations and thoughts or ideas.

X rolled his eyes and picked up one of the used papers. Speed's hand slid off of it limply without him waking. With a calculating but curious eye, X turned the paper right side up and tried to make sense of the random clutter. It looked as if Speed had barfed his brain all over the paper. X smirked at the thought.

There was a sketch of the hourglass part, the shadow committee's logo, a few equations that appeared to be a way of calculating the amount of voltage from something. He raised an eyebrow, unable to pick out much.

There were a few bleeps and X jumped, dropping the paper. It drifted down and landed on top of Speed's free hand. With a few more beeps, Chim-Chim peered out from under Alpha's bed.

X sighed in relief. He had almost forgotten about the robot. "It's just you, great," he mumbled. The chimpanzee chattered a bit and disappeared back under the bed.

Just then, Speed literally jumped into action; he stumbled to his feet quickly, almost falling in the process. "What? What happened?" he began, but paused as he saw his surroundings. Recovering quickly from his initial shock, he shook his head. "Never mind," he said quickly and scooped up his three papers and pencil. He gave his writing a quick look-over, ready to pick up where he left off.

"What's all this?" X asked innocently. Speed glanced up at him. "A plan in the making," he responded and started for the door. "I'll be back in a bit, don't change history while I'm gone. If you see someone you know, resist any temptations and-" he started to say, but X put his hands up and cut him off. "And tell nobody your from the future," he said, mimicking his brother's voice. "I know the drill, Mom. You see this kind of thing on TV all the time." Speed narrowed his eyes and decided he didn't want to be the one to start that argument waiting to happen. Instead he left the room, heading towards the exit.

He had work to do.

* * *

><p>HEY LOOK! A CHAPTER!<br>**Muse X: **It's about time. I thought I was going to have to kill you.  
>Heheh, yeah... Anywho, it's summer! You know what that means? More updates!<br>**Muse X:** _'Bout to heat up!_ Get it? It's summer? 'Bout to-?  
>Ugh...<p> 


	9. Chapter 8

**Chapter 8  
>Wait, what?<strong>

* * *

><p>"How long?" Connor whimpered.<p>

Lucy blinked. That had been the first thing the mechanic had said for a while now. "What do you mean?"

Connor looked up at her. "How long have we been in here?"

She shook her head. "I don't want to know," she replied, stifling a yawn. She didn't need a watch to know that it was late.

"Do you think they'll ever let us out?" he asked quietly. Another thing nobody really wanted to know the answer to. Each of them knew that it wouldn't be anytime soon. Then again, it was kind of hard to tell what the Shadowy Woman was thinking. The thought that losing the true hourglass part to three teenage boys and a chimpanzee hadn't been her original intention added the smallest sense of victory to the situation.

Annalise spoke up after a short silence. "They'll probably take Mr. Racer out for questioning. Then Damian and the headmaster," she said. Lucy's throat tightened. "What'll they do with us? They don't need to ask us for the Mach 6's engine schematics, they already have the actual car," she commented out loud, mainly to distract herself from what she was actually thinking. Annalise shrugged and Connor looked as if he was trying to puzzle it out. "They might still ask us about it. The engine's complex enough that they might not be able to figure out how it works just from looking. They'd have to take it apart. They probably wouldn't know how to put it back together after that and they'd be left with a heap of parts," he whispered, glancing nervously at the door.

The realization made them all silent for a bit, wondering if that could actually happen. It seemed to be a reasonable enough explanation. Lucy couldn't help but worry about how far the Committee would go to get the information they wanted. She brightened so suddenly that the others were almost startled. They looked up. Annalise opened her mouth to say something, but Lucy spoke first.

"That's it!" she whispered excitedly. The three of them leaned in closer. "Mr. Racer is a martial artist, too! When they try to question him he can take out the guards, steal one of their key cards and bust the rest of us out! Then we could run for it!"

Connor smiled for the first time in hours. "Yeah!" he said quietly.

Annalise nodded, but found a flaw in Lucy's plan. "Wait, what about the cars? We can't outrun Rocket Air; they're called that for a reason. We don't even know where the cars a_re_," she reasoned. The other two deflated visibly.

Lucy scoffed. "Darn it, I hadn't thought of that…" she said.

"That and how would we tell Mr. Racer our plan without the guards hearing? They're not going to let us go over and discuss it with him over lunch," Annalise pointed out. Lucy smacked a hand to her forehead and Connor's brow furrowed slightly. "You're just going to shoot down every plan we have aren't you?" he said miserably.

Annalise narrowed her eyes, anger glittering in them. "Well _sorr-y_ for thinking logically."

Connor sighed. "Sorry, you're right… I just wish we could come up with something." Lucy couldn't help but nod solemnly.

Meanwhile, the door to Speed Sr.'s cell slid open. He blinked as the sudden brightness of the hallway flowed in, lighting up the dim room he was confined in considerably. He stood, using all of his will power to not start a fight and make his and his friends' situation even worse. Two guards approached, but he could tell several more were in the hallway, ready to take him down if he tried anything. He smirked inwardly. They were smart.

He glared sharply at the various guards as his hands were bound behind him before a cloth bag was put over his head, obscuring his vision. A sharp prod in the middle of his back ordered him to walk forward. He bit back a sharp insult and just started walking, feeling as if he was going to run into something. Thankfully, the guards didn't take advantage of his weakness and guided him down the hall firmly. He tried to memorize the way, hoping he could at least remember part of it later.

A hand on his chest made him stop abruptly. The bag was ripped off his head. He was prepared for a rush of bright light, but it turned out dimmer than he expected. He looked around a bit, his blue gaze sweeping the area before it landed on the figure standing before him.

The Shadowy Woman's figure was still obscured by darkness, making her features impossible to distinguish. He frowned as she spoke, her voice still warped beyond recognition as usual.

"Now that you've had some alone time to come to terms with your loss, I'd like for you to answer some questions."

Speed tilted his head downward a bit. He had known that they would take advantage of his knowledge eventually. He also knew that this polite, casual tone wouldn't last long if he didn't cooperate. He didn't plan on it lasting.

"If you're going to ask about the Hourglass part, you're out of luck. I don't know anything about it," he growled. Even though she was barely visible, Speed could tell that she was irritated. "What do you mean you don't know? You designed it," she said venomously.

Speed shook his head. "No I didn't. I had nothing to do with the part."

The Shadowy Woman knew that this was probably all he would say openly. "You designed the engine," she said in an attempt to begin digging deeper. "True," Speed replied vaguely. He wasn't going to sell his secrets that easily. "Then you obviously know something."

Speed narrowed his eyes slightly. "I didn't make the part. It was snuck into the design somehow. It wasn't in the original schematics."

* * *

><p><strong>Muse X:<strong> What?  
>You heard him.<br>**Muse X:** Man, you're confusing. Why isn't the Shadow Lady trying to force him to talk?  
>... She's very 'ooc' in this. xP Let's just say it's her evil way of, uh... Being evil...<br>**Muse X:** Pfft.  
>Hey! I know why! I just don't wanna say it in the Author's Note. :P Just be glad your dad isn't being electrocuted.<br>**Muse X:** Ugh, fine... *grumble grumble*  
>Anyway, Sorry it took two and a half weeks to update! I'm trying to do better! D:<p> 


	10. Chapter 9

**Chapter 9  
>Going Out with a Bang<br>**

* * *

><p>The Shadow Lady stiffened. Whether it was from irritation or shock, Speed couldn't tell.<p>

"What do you _mean_ you didn't design the part? Of _course_ you did!" she said forcefully. Speed shook his head, but didn't say anything. Behind his back he could practically feel the various goons' presences. Even so, he slowly worked the tight knot in the rope looser, being careful to not let any of the others know it.

The Shadow Lady paused for a moment to think. "If you didn't design it, who did?" she asked plainly. Speed rolled his eyes slightly. Like he'd tell_ her _that. That was about the reaction the Shadowy Woman was expecting. She had a pretty good idea of the answer already, anyway.

"Where is that friend of yours, anyway? The mechanic? Sparky, was it?" she stated casually. Speed carefully hid the dread that swept over him, trying best he could to hide that the Shadow Lady had hit a nerve. "How do you expect me to know?" he asked stubbornly. The Shadow Lady could detect that he wasn't telling the whole truth. "Haven't you been contacting him?"

Speed snorted. "Of course not, I'm not stupid."

The Shadow Lady suppressed a smirk. "Take him back," she said to one of the goons. "Bring me one of the kids. I don't care which, just not the blonde."

"Yes ma'am," the goon replied curtly before placing the bag back over Speed's head and leading the way back toward the holding cells, the other goons following close behind. Speed had the knot undone and was holding the ropes in place to give off the illusion that he was still bound and helpless.

He had plenty of patience. After nearly 17 years of just waiting for the right moment to show himself, planting clues along the way and working from the sidelines, he could lie in wait for as long as it took. All he had to do was wait, calm and quiet. He was stopped in his tracks by a firm hand on his chest. He heard the faint beep of a key card scanner and a door slide open.

The quiet hallway burst to life. All at once, he tore his hands free of the rope and took the bag off his head, punching at the nearest goon. He didn't even know where the hit landed, but it caused the man to stagger back with a sharp startled yell. He spun, kicking another of them in the stomach as he went. The goon he kicked coughed and bent over, gripping his stomach.

One of the other two goons had him by the shoulder, ready to punch him square in his lower back. Speed turned, receiving the hit in the side. He gasped in pain but didn't fall. He managed to punch his attacker in the face, making him stagger so much he nearly fell, just before he felt something catch him by the ankles, swiping his legs out from under him.

Speed yelped as he fell, hitting the ground hard. The goon that had knocked him down leaned over, grabbing him by his collar. He brought a fist back and was about to knock him out, but Speed instinctively lashed out, using his feet to propel his attacker off of him and away barely in time.

Speed quickly jumped to his feet and was immediately attacked by two of the other goons who were recovering fast, a third almost back as well. He ducked, avoiding a punch aimed at his head.

He couldn't keep this up.

He stooped down and snatched up the card that had been used to unlock his cell, nearly getting kicked along the way. He ran to the other two cells, swiping the card in front of the first. As soon as Spritle and Damian's cell was open, they leaped out, pinning the two goons that were chasing Speed Sr. to the wall, their eyes glittering with rage at their captors. Speed quickly opened the teen's cell and they gratefully fled, letting him take the lead.

Spritle took off after them, Damian following but not before knocking the two pinned goons' heads together. They promptly collapsed, remaining only half conscious. The two remaining goons were almost fully recovered by the time news had spread of what had happened and a group of at least seven or more were racing down the hallways, looking for the group of escapees.

Speed Sr. could hear the goons' thundering footsteps above their own; they were getting closer. "THE CARS ARE THIS WAY!" Speed yelled loudly and veered quickly into the next hallway, pinning himself against the wall. The others copied him. Annalise looked furious.

"He just gave away where we are!" she whispered angrily to Lucy. Lucy glanced at her, but didn't respond. Speed was intently watching the hallway they had just left. The goons ran straight past them. "They're going for the cars! After them!" one of them barked as they ran by. Speed beamed and gave the goons a small head start before running quietly behind them.

Connor grinned. "You're a genius!" he whispered as quietly as he could. Speed caught his words and winked at him. The goons were leading them straight towards the Mach 6, the Mach 5 and Damian's Car.

"What about the goons? Can we take them all?" Spritle whispered urgently, a worried expression on his face. "We only need to hold them off until we can get to the cars. We all have a better chance on the road," Speed murmured back reassuringly. Spritle nodded. Thankfully, the goons ahead weren't listening behind them, only assuming that the extra footsteps were more goons.

They emerged into another dimly lit corridor, this one much larger than the others with a bigger door. It had quite a few cars in it, but the only ones they cared about were the three they were looking for; the three blending in perfectly with the other expensive and advanced cars around them in the middle of the garage. Speed motioned for them to split up as the goons skidded to a halt in front of them, bewildered as they realized that the group wasn't in the garage with the cars already.

Their gazes all flew to Spritle, Damian and Annalise skirting them to their left and Speed, Connor and Lucy on their right, heading straight for the cars. The goons split up, racing straight towards the two groups. Speed, Spritle, Annalise and the others met up at the cars, making sure that the three teens were in the Mach 6 before getting to their own cars. They narrowly avoided running into the goons.

Making sure the others were in the cars, Speed leaped into the driver's seat of the Mach 5, sealing the deflector. He was thankful that it closed quickly, making the goons that had run up beside him jump back to avoid losing their fingers. They quickly joined their comrades, dashing to several of the extra cars to give chase.

Speed and Damian pulled their spare keys from their pockets quickly. They always kept a few extras for occasions just like this, but the three teenagers were almost out of luck.

"You guys don't have a spare?!" Annalise asked in disbelief. "Speed has the spare! It's his car!" Lucy snapped back. "And my spare is with Chim-Chim!" Connor added. Annalise slapped her palm to her forehead. "What? Speed won't give me the keys sometimes…" he said solemnly.

"Hotwire it!" Lucy said. "No time! Check the glove box!" Annalise replied quickly, nearly cutting her off.

"Are you kidding? The Shadow Lady isn't dumb enough to put the key there!"

"That's exactly why it's the best place to put it!"

Lucy groaned and checked the glove box, digging through the contents. She was amazed to find that Annalise had guessed correctly. She took it out and slammed the box shut, quickly giving the key to Annalise who started up the car, the engine roaring to life.

Meanwhile, Damian and Speed Sr. had been taking the goons in rings around the parking lot. As soon as they saw the Mach 6 start, Damian blew another hole in the wall and took the lead. Speed let the Mach 6 through before following, bringing up the rear.

As expected, when Speed glanced in his rear view mirror, the goons were hot on their tails and still gaining.

Damian and Spritle looked up as Speed Sr. popped up on their comm. system. "Don't go to the academy, we could put the students in danger. Lead them to the Salt Flats," he said urgently. Spritle nodded in agreement. "I'm on it," Damian replied, following the dirt road towards the Flats. Annalise followed him close behind in the Mach 6.

Speed saw he was about to get rammed in the bumper the second one of the goons started pulling towards him. Thinking fast, he deployed his saws and whipped the Mach 5 around just before he got hammered. The force of the impact with the quickly rotating blades knocked the goon's car to the side, leaving a deep, jagged tear in the front of it and popping a tire. The loud squealing of brakes filled the air followed by a crash as another of the goons failed in their attempt to avoid slamming into their teammate.

Still, it was only two down and at least five were still chasing them. Not only that, but others were getting added to the mix. Seven Scorpion Cars were tagging along now, shooting at the three cars whenever they got an opening. To even further the severity of the situation, Von Moniacle, Lord Bowler and Mr. Pinkyring joined the crowd.

Speed's eyes widened slightly at the impossible odds. He quickly flipped the Mach 5 back around forwards, turning on his comm. system to contact the other two cars.

"There's too many of them! I don't know if we can take them all at once!" he said wearily, glancing back over his shoulder at the crowd following them. Even though the Scorpion Cars stopped at the communications barrier, the group was still a formidable force. Lucy, Damian and Connor all looked uneasy as they realized the number of cars following them across the desert. Even Spritle was a bit pale, but Annalise looked determined. "If you're thinking like that, then we've already lost!" she said. "We'll never know if we don't try. And besides, how else will we get them off our tails?"

Speed smiled. She sounded like Spritle when he was little. He grinned, his brow furrowed with a newfound determination. "Let's do this," he said. "Yeah! Let's show them what we're made of! Nobody takes the Mach 6 and gets away with it!" Connor said and punched the air. "They'll be sorry they messed with us!" Damian added, flooring the gas. Speed and Annalise accelerated right behind him, their opponents never too far behind.

* * *

><p><strong>Muse X:<strong> Terribly sorry for your loss, but I'm afraid that the beloved MumblePhan-  
>You can stop there.<br>**Muse X: **OH GOSH, I THOUGHT I KILLED YOU.  
>Nah, not yet. I'm still alive. *hooray*<br>**Muse X: **Hmph. I'll have to try harder next time...  
>o_o O-kaaay, looking forward to that. Anywho, this was going to be a LOT longer, but it's not for three reasons;<br>1) I quickly lost muse and began having to force myself to write more.  
>2) It was getting too long, so I cut it in half. Sorry, but the other half will have to wait untill after the next chapter, trying to keep stuff in balance.<br>3) High School. Seriously, nuff said. Marching Band the week before school started, then I already had legit homework _before_ the first day. That's how my year is going, so sorry if I seem kinda... Dead. I feel bad for those of you reading this. :P  
>Again, sorry about the whole two-month-intervals-between-chapters thing I have going on here, I'll try harder. I do like this story and what I have planned for it, so I will finish it, even if the end is a huge cliffhanger or something else equally disappointing. So relatively few worries, folks. ^-^<p> 


	11. Chapter 10

**Chapter 10  
>Good Old Fashioned Ingenuity<strong>

* * *

><p>It hadn't been too long before Speed returned with breakfast. Thankfully for the two of them, they had some pocket money to stretch out for a day or two.<p>

"I suppose we could deliver pizza or something if we can't get out of here soon enough," X had said when it was brought up. Speed had thought over it a bit at the time and had to agree that it sounded like their best option.

Speed could only hope that it wouldn't take much longer to find a way back to their own time period. He had been working on a plan, but still couldn't figure out parts of it. He was trying to remember how the engine operated with the part to use the jump feature. When Chim-Chim had zapped them, the electricity had seemed to be the thing that triggered the part and sent them to the past. When the Mach 6 jumped, he was likely being sent a few seconds into the future. But how to make the effect more accurate and predictable?

He was pondering over this again late in the afternoon. He and X had already had lunch. X wasn't in the room that moment, having gone for a "short walk" earlier. Speed didn't know what he was doing, but as long as he wasn't changing history he didn't care. Alpha seemed to be doing better as well. None of the doctors in their own time period would probably know what was wrong, let alone the ones from nearly seventeen years ago, so he wasn't being cured. Even so, the medicines and undisturbed rest he was getting was doing him some good. He was more alert and could move just fine, though he still couldn't walk very well and the doctors strongly protested anything of the sort. Still, it was progress.

A few minutes later Speed's thoughts were interrupted by X bursting into the room. Speed jumped and X started talking immediately.

"Speed, you're never going to believe this. It's the Mach 5! It's out in the parking lot! And I just saw Mom and Dad and Sparky and me when I was like, a year old outside going into a different area of the hospital! Speed, you're being born, _right now!_"

Speed sat there with a blank expression, still trying to absorb the information. "Oh no, I didn't think it was _this_ hospital!" he finally said. X's mouth dropped open. "_What?!_ You knew that it was _today?"_ he asked angrily. Speed's eyes narrowed.

"Of course I did! I saw that it was my birthday today yesterday, but I didn't think we were actually going to _be there!_ I figured it was a different hospital," he explained, feeling a sense of dread. This was the day he was born, and that meant that if they didn't leave soon, all hell would be breaking loose. If they altered any of it, the consequences could be devastating. "We have to get out of here, A.S.A.P."

X nodded in agreement. "What are those plans you're making? Maybe I can help," he suggested. Speed gave him a small smile for a second before showing him the cluttered papers. X took them, scanning over the writing.

"I've been trying to figure out how the jumps work in the Mach 6. At first I thought it was some sort of teleportation, but now that I think about it, it was actually time travel. Every time it jumps, it goes a few seconds into the future," Speed said.

"And that's without the hourglass part," X added. "With the part, the Mach 6 could be turned into a fully fledged time machine!"

Speed's jaw dropped. "Just think about what the committee could do with the technology! They could permanently mess up history!" X's eyes widened. "But why would they want to? And I thought they were interested in the gasless engine," he pondered out loud. Speed shrugged. "I don't know what they want anymore."

He dismissed the topic and continued, "Anyway, I've been trying to figure out how exactly the jumps work so that I can compare it with the hourglass part. When we got zapped back to now, the part got an electrical surge of around three million volts through you…"

X was bewildered. _"Three million volts?!"_ he exclaimed, horrified. Speed rolled his eyes. "It's not volts that kill you, X. You're fine," he said, but X still looked skeptical. "How would you know that?" he asked, resisting the urge to inch away from his brother as if he had been plotting to kill him the whole time.

Speed rolled his eyes. "A friend of mine got tazed once so I looked it up online, long story. The point is, that surge sent us back approximately 16 and a half years into the past, probably a bit more. Whatever happens to the engine when the Mach 6 jumps is our ticket out of here. We just have to work out what happens and how to replicate the effect."

X nodded. "Ok. It's 3:13 now, which means we have somewhere around five hours to figure it out and do it, give or take." Speed smiled. "That should be long enough. In the meantime, don't talk to anyone related to us," he said, ready to get to work.

Alpha had been listening in and started to think it over as well. Speed appreciated his input, even if he didn't know how the Mach 6's engine worked. Knowing that he wasn't the only one thinking through their way back to the present lifted a load off of his shoulders, and he allowed himself to relax slightly. He hadn't realized before how much stress he was under because of their predicament, and he was immensely grateful to both of them for helping him figure it out.

Chim-Chim was hiding under Alpha's bed again. Speed checked on the robotic monkey occasionally; he hadn't thought it was possible for a robot to have feelings, but from what he could see, the chimp was depressed. He only made noise when Speed checked on him. The rest of the time he rested under the bed, quiet and forgotten. Speed had to admit, he felt sorry for him. "Don't worry Chim, we'll get back soon. I'll bet Connor misses you, too. Just think about how happy he'll be to get you back," he had murmured one of the times he had checked on him. Chim-Chim had beeped a few times in response, seeming to cheer up slightly.

X was gone for a lot of the time. Speed wasn't sure about what he was doing, but as long as he wasn't messing up history, he didn't really care. He did check in a few times to see if Speed or Alpha had thought of anything.

It was a very long and disappointing hour and a half before any of them had thought of something. X had just walked in to ask if they had any more information again when Alpha spoke up. "Maybe what it needs is a reverse shock. Like, using it as a power source rather than powering it," he suggested.

"I was thinking it could be something like that, but we can't know for sure until we can figure out how the Mach 6 works," Speed said, frowning slightly at his own bad news. X had looked hopeful when Alpha spoke, but now he appeared irritated at how quickly Speed shot it down. Then his face lit up. "Hey Speed, remember before you could control the jumps?"

"Yeah?"

"It would only jump after you'd been going over 250 miles an hour for a few seconds. Because of the gasless engine, maybe the car couldn't get enough energy to go that fast," X observed. Speed thought about it for a minute.

"But isn't the engine more powerful than that? It would be able to handle 250 miles an hour on its own," he said.

"Yes, but it'd have to work harder to go a higher speed. It doesn't need to borrow a lot of energy, just a little boost of power to keep it going," Alpha added, propping himself up a bit higher in his bed. Speed nodded. "But then, where did it get the energy from? It jumps without using the hourglass part, so it must get it from somewhere else."

"You know, it only started jumping after you finished the gasless engine, remember? What was changed?" X said to Speed.

Speed's smile grew slowly to a grin.

"The Chezco Chamber."

* * *

><p><strong>Muse X: <strong>You're a disappointment. You know that?  
>Yeah, yeah, I know. I'm not even giving any excuses this time. I blame life.<br>**Muse X: **Hmph. At least you have most of the next chapter written.  
>True. And sorry guys, but the next is gonna be the second half of chapter 9. There's something I need to clarify in there before moving on. And yes, it's pretty important.<br>**Muse X: **Aw, why? That time period is missing the one thing that makes it awesome - me.  
>Wibbly-Wobbly, Timey-Wimey. Reviews are much appreciated, anyone who can name the reference I just used gets a virtual cookie. :D<br>**Muse X: **Nerd.


	12. Chapter 11

**Chapter 11  
>Where are they now?<strong>

* * *

><p>The three cars swerved to avoid getting hit as another volley of shots fired from a variety of different weapons flew towards them from behind. As they got closer and closer to the Salt Flats, the waves of attacks increased. The Committee wasn't going to let the Mach 6 get away that easily.<p>

Speed Sr., Spritle, Damian, Lucy, Connor and Annalise finally reached the flats mostly in one piece, though each car had damage in one way or another. The Mach 6 had remained mostly untouched, but still sported several scorch marks from lasers that they had been unable to dodge in time and a blown off rear view mirror that was now just a charred stub because of what was had appeared to be a bullet-sized torpedo. The Mach 5 had scorch marks as well and had taken a few hits, leaving the front end a bit smashed in addition to his damaged saws. Damian's car had scorch marks as well and had taken a blow in the back, leaving a massive dent in his bumper.

Without many useful offensive moves, the Mach 5 had been unable to take out any more of the goons once the attacks sped up. Thankfully, Annalise and Damian were able to destroy two more of the goons' cars using oil slicks, leaving only three of them left.

As soon as they were upon the blank, flat terrain, the group scattered, the entire grounds exploding with activity and sound.

Baron Von Moniacle and one of the remaining goons went after Speed Sr. and the Mach 5. Speed remembered the last time he and Moniacle had crossed paths, feeling a chill run up his spine. Having no control of your own mind and then only vaguely remembering what you had done because of it wasn't too pleasant of a feeling.

"Ach! Speed Sr., we meet again!" the Baron said once he had hacked into the Mach 5's communications system. Speed scoffed. "I can't say I'm pleased to see you again," he responded flatly.

Before Moniacle could reply, Speed turned the Mach 5 sharply to the left, drifting sideways around the two cars following him until he was behind them. Baron, however, saw what he was trying to do and slammed on his brakes right in front of the Mach 5. The move took Speed by surprise, and without enough time to react fully, he hit the rear of Moniacle's car hard.

Nearby, Damian was facing off against Mr. Pinkyring, Spritle clinging to the passenger's seat and ducked down as far as he could. The massive black car behind them was firing off a continuous stream of lasers from the machine gun-like cannon perched on the roof of the car. Damian was swerving madly to avoid getting blasted. He couldn't get close enough to use his oil slick attack and when he tried to do it from a safe distance, Pinkyring saw the attack coming and dodged it easily.

"Oh no, _Speed!"_ Spritle gasped as he looked over and saw the state of the Mach 5, whose predicament had worsened. Speed was trying to get the airbag out of his face, but while he was distracted Von Moniacle had turned around and was heading straight for the vulnerable car with every intent of finishing him off. Damian glanced over, his breath catching in his throat. He could never make it over there in time. Spritle quickly made contact with the Mach 5.

_"SPEED, LOOK OUT!"_ he yelled to his brother in panic. Speed popped the air bag right then, his eyes widening as he saw Moniacle charging straight for him. Without a moment of hesitation, he punched the A button on his steering wheel, the Mach 5 leaping promptly into the air. Moniacle's evil grin turned into a look of surprise and anger as he passed straight under the Mach 5, which landed with a thud behind him, out of harm's way. He hollered in frustration, but was cut short as he was thrown forward, slamming into his own airbag as it deployed.

In the short time when he hadn't been paying attention, he had plowed straight into Lord Bowler, who had been chasing after the Mach 6. One of the goons that had been going after the Mach 6 didn't have enough time to get out of the way and crashed into the wrecked cars, smoke wafting in generous amounts from all three.

Spritle sighed in relief. "Thanks, I owe you one," Speed told him over the comm. Spritle nodded. "Anytime."

During the fiasco with Moniacle, Damian had finally managed to get rid of Mr. Pinkyring. He had performed a sharp U-Turn, releasing the last of his oil slick as he went. The thick black substance sprayed in a U shape as Damian drove, making sure that Mr. Pinkyring would hit it whether he turned or not. The heavy car didn't handle as well as the others, making even the small amount of oil just enough to spin him out, disabling him for a while.

The Mach 6 was faring a bit better. With Lord Bowler off their tail and only two of the goons left and firing their weapons at them, Annalise, Lucy and Connor weren't in much danger anymore. Lord Bowler had given them a hard time, proving to be worthy competition with even the Mach 6's powerful gasless engine. He had kept pace with them the entire time, landing several good shots that had demolished the protective force field they had put over the car and did quite a bit of damage.

Now Annalise had changed direction, the two goons following them closely and shooting whenever they got the chance. She was heading straight for Mr. Pinkyring's car, which was still immobile for a while.

"How do you do that thing where we disappear?!" she asked quickly, building speed. "The button on the shift!" Connor replied. Thankfully, from dodging the attacks earlier, they had enough charge built up. At the last second, Annalise made the Mach 6 jump, stunned as she found herself all too suddenly on the other side of Mr. Pinkyring's car. The goons didn't have enough time to react, causing them to wreck into the large car behind Annalise while she sped off.

Connor and Lucy blinked and exchanged looks. They had never actually been _in_ the Mach 6 when it had jumped before. It was exactly like Speed had described; one moment they were about to crash, then the next they were safely on the other side, the car fishtailing as Annalise recovered from the abruptness of it. It was one of those 'you blink and you miss it' things.

"I don't think they're able to follow us anymore. Good work," Speed Sr. said over the comm. system to the other two cars. "Let's head back to the Academy," Spritle added. The others agreed and Damian began to lead the way. Speed tried to get the Mach 5 moving, but the damaged car only sputtered and died. Knowing something in the front of his engine had probably been crushed, he cursed under his breath.

Connor appeared on his comm. system suddenly. "No worries, Mr. Racer. We've got your back," he said. As the Mach 6 passed the Mach 5, its small grappling hook shot out, catching on the front of the car and towing the failing vehicle along behind it. "Thanks," Speed said gratefully. Annalise nodded. "No problem."

They all made it back to the academy safely, storing the cars in their assigned garages. They would all need some degree of repair, but that wasn't what they were mainly focused on. First and foremost, they needed to get Speed and X back from wherever or whenever they were. The group was gathered in the Mach 6's garage, trying to decide how to approach the situation.  
>"I don't see what we can do. How did it even happen? What do we know?" Damian started. "T-There was a flash. Earlier, b-before we went in," Speed Sr. said quietly, his voice shaking slightly. Everyone in the room looked over at him. He was propping himself up on the Mach 6, nearly doubled over. He looked absolutely miserable, the loss of both of his sons taking its toll on him in full. He felt as if he'd been run over by a truck.<p>

"Speed? Are you alright?" Spritle asked, his voice full of concern for his brother. Speed looked him straight in the eyes. "No, I'm not."

"Don't worry Mr. Racer, we're going to get them back one way or another," Lucy said. Speed took a breath, trying to gather himself.

"It'd help if we knew how the hourglass part worked. Then we'd at least have some idea about where they've gone," Connor suggested. For this, they all looked to Speed. He looked up, glancing at them each. "Wish I could help."

"Woah woah woah, wait a minute… What do you mean you can't help?" Annalise asked. The whole room was a bit stunned as well. Speed Sr. took another breath to steady himself. "I don't know how the hourglass part works. I have _no clue_. I never put it in the design."

"_What?!_ But you were the one who designed the Mach 6! How could you not know about the part?!" Damian asked, trying not to raise his voice and failing at it. "The design wasn't finished when I went into hiding, Damian! I wasn't the only one who designed the car!" Speed retorted irritably. Spritle's eyes widened in understanding. "Sparky," he said. Speed nodded.

"Sparky had been hooked on the idea of time travel for months before I went into hiding. I told him that if it were possible, it was a horrible idea that would only end in disaster. When I disappeared, he must've put it into the design somehow. I have no idea how it works, because the hourglass part was never my idea and I had no part in making it."

There was silence as the group digested the news.

"Is there any way we could contact Sparky? He might be the key to getting them back," Spritle asked. Speed Sr. jumped up immediately in alarm. "No! The Committee is after our hides and anyone who knows anything about the Mach 6 is at risk, too. If we were to contact him now, we would be putting him in extreme danger. We might even end up getting him killed," Speed said seriously.

Spritle gulped. "So you're basically saying there's nothing we can do?" he asked wearily, dreading the answer. Speed shook his head lightly. "I don't see what we can do."

The whole room went silent again, each of them trying to think of anything useful, anything they could do at all. Speed found that he felt even more helpless than before, having admitted defeat. He stood up and began to head towards the Mach 5's garage. "I should see how much is damaged on the Mach 5," he said quietly on his way out.

The others stared after him as the door slid shut behind him. "There has to be something, _anything_ we can do," Lucy said after he had gone.

Spritle looked around the room. "I think we're all a bit worked up. We just need to take a break, then come up with something when we can think clearly." The rest of the group murmured their agreement.

Speed Sr. was in the garage with the Mach 5, the hood propped open, a faint trail of smoke still issuing from the engine. Even as he dug through the torn metal to get to the problem, he found he couldn't focus, his mind wandering constantly. Finally he gave up, sliding down into a sitting position with his back against the car. He bit his lip, holding back the tears that were beginning to form.

Just then, Spritle walked in. "Speed? Are you in here?" he asked gently. He could hear a few stifled sobs. He walked in and noticed his brother, looking more pitiful than he had ever seen him. The sight almost frightened him; he had never seen Speed break down before. He had always pictured him as the brave and determined Speed Racer, the best driver on the circuit.

However, he did have every right to feel this way, Spritle thought, and he imagined that he would be more worried about Speed if he wasn't at the breaking point.

Spritle knelt down beside his brother, who was failing to stifle his tears. Spritle rested a hand on his upper back, rubbing it in small circles as his brother finally let some of his tears fall, finding himself suddenly crying into Spritle's shoulder.

He'd failed his boys once more and he couldn't stand the thought of losing them again, for good this time.

* * *

><p><strong>Muse X: <strong>You're a horrible person, you know that?  
>Yeah yeah yeah, I'm aware. So much angst here...<br>**Muse X:** At least you have the next chapter finished already.  
>YES. It will be posted either tomorrow or the next day, 127% GARUNTEED THIS TIME.<br>**Muse X: **I'll believe that when it actually happens.  
>I know. I can't believe you all have put up with me for this long. I love you all. On another unrelated note, this will be the last present-day chapter for a while, so enjoy it while you can. :c Back to the past in the next chapter! *yay*<p> 


	13. Chapter 12

**Chapter 12  
>A Generous Offer<strong>

* * *

><p>"That means that we're right; we have to do the opposite of what got us here," X said, a smile hinting at the corners of his mouth.<p>

Speed nodded, smiling as well. "The only problem now is if Chim-Chim could handle it, and if he can even do it in the first place." X moaned.

"What do you mean, _if_ he can do it? Chim-Chim does everything! He's the Swiss Army Knife of robotics," he said impatiently. Speed rolled his eyes. "I'm pretty sure he can't turn into a cannon."

Chim-Chim bleeped under Alpha's bed. X smacked a hand to his forehead. "That's beside the point. I'm sure he could absorb electricity if he wanted to." Speed frowned. "Even if he can, what if he can't hold that much? It _is_ 50,000 volts. What if he explodes or something and kills us?"

X blinked with a bored expression. "You're dad's son alright. I stick with what I said before, you're both paranoid," he said. Speed narrowed his eyes. "It could happen."

"Speed's right. We don't know what could happen. Even if he didn't explode, what about all of that excess electricity? It would probably just go right back into the Hourglass part and send us back here," Alpha added. X groaned. "So we have nothing?"

"It's a start, and now we know how the part works. All we need to do now is figure out how to do it safely," Alpha pointed out. X nodded. "And fast." Speed, Alpha and Chim-Chim agreed.

Speed and Alpha stayed in the hospital room, brainstorming a way to get the hourglass working. Meanwhile, X went out to find some dinner for Speed and himself. Alpha was being fed at the hospital, which was helpful as they wouldn't have enough pocket money to feed another person in addition to themselves.

Getting dinner didn't take very long, seeing as a few fast food places were in the area.

On his way back to the hospital, he stopped.

"X! Hey X!"

He paused, looking around for who was calling for him. His wandering eyes landed on Sparky, waving and approaching him at a brisk jog. "Wait up!"

X blinked in mild surprise. He had assumed originally that the mechanic would forget about him and Speed and just move on. "Sparky? What are you doing here?" he asked unnecessarily, seeing as he already knew why.

"Family reasons. I was actually just thinking about visiting you and Brendan if you were still here. Wanted to make sure your cousin was ok," Sparky said. He sounded genuine. "Oh, ok, I guess. We're in room C4, you could visit for a little bit. But not for long, we plan on leaving later," X said a little reluctantly.

"Of course. Lead the way," Sparky replied. X started towards Alpha's room, Sparky following closely behind him.

Speed's expression upon their arrival was exactly as X expected. Completely astonished and a bit annoyed. "Oh, hey Sparky! Didn't expect to see you again," he said, his voice not giving away the anger and annoyance he undoubtedly felt right then. "Just thought I'd check in and see how you three were doing. Fine, I hope?" Sparky said with a small smile. Speed risked a glance towards the space beneath Alpha's bed, where Chim-Chim was hiding again.

"Yeah, a lot better than before. Sorry, but could you excuse us for a moment?" Speed asked politely. Sparky nodded. "Of course, don't mind me," the mechanic replied. Speed smiled at him appreciatively before looking at X and jerking his head towards the door. X strolled out into the hallway and Speed followed, closing the door halfway behind him.

"Are you crazy?! We can't work out loud around him and you know it!" Speed growled at his brother. "He could help us," X said. Speed opened his mouth to speak, but X continued, cutting him off. "Just think about it for a minute; pretend it's a physics project or something instead of a time machine, and maybe he could help!"

Speed looked for an argument, but couldn't find one. It could actually work. "Ugh, fine, you win. But he can't find out who we are, or what we're doing. If he does, we could change the course of history forever."

"Don't worry, he won't," X said confidently, heading back into the room.

Sparky didn't seem to have heard them as he was talking casually with Alpha. He looked up as the brothers reentered the room.

"Sorry about that," Speed said. Sparky smiled. "It's no biggie. I'm just wondering what you two are hiding." X blinked and Speed went slightly pale, recovering quickly. "What do you mean?" he asked as genuinely as he could pretend to be.

Sparky smiled, chuckling slightly under his breath. "There's only one person in America named X, and he's too young to have a teenager be named after him."

X's expression remained blank. "It's not a very common name," he agreed. Sparky's smile widened. "Where are you three from?"

There was a pause. Speed had been cursing himself silently. He'd thought that _his_ name would be a dead giveaway, but was so focused on that that he had forgotten how X's was just as bad. He hesitated, before deciding that Sparky had already figured it out, and making up more lies would only make it more obvious. "The future. X and I are from the future," he said finally, knowing he'd been beat.

Sparky beamed triumphantly. "I knew it! I knew time travel was possible!"

Speed, X and Alpha stared at him in amazement. "Wait, what?" X asked in disbelief.

"I've been trying to make a time machine for ages now! The science seemed impossible, but if Speed and I can make a gasless engine, time travel shouldn't be too far behind," Sparky explained. "How did you three get here? When are you from?"

"By accident, and 16 years in the future. It's a long story," Speed said. "We're trying to figure out how to get back home," X finished for him. Sparky whistled. "Wow, you are a long way from home. Anything I can do to help?"

X glanced at Speed as if for permission. Speed merely heaved a sigh.

"We've been trying to come up with a way to absorb electricity without it going back into the device," X replied. Sparky nodded thoughtfully. "How much electricity?"

"50,000 volts."

Sparky's face fell slightly. "Yikes, that's quite a bit," he observed unnecessarily. The three teens looked at him hopefully as he thought hard about it. "Hmmm... Suppose you had something that needed that much power to do just a simple task, or was able to store that much at once without electrocuting something," he said finally.

"But where would we get something like that? We don't have very much funding, and we've been using the little that we do have on food," Speed said. "I have some extra money, I wouldn't mind paying for it," Sparky responded.

"What?! That's a bit much to ask, we don't need you to-" Speed began with alarm, only to be cut off by Sparky. "It's not that big 'a deal. I make a pretty decent paycheck and I wouldn't mind if it gets you three back where you belong. Honestly. I wanna help."

Speed still looked anxious about it, but had to admit that they didn't have much choice; plus, Sparky seemed more than willing to help out. He gulped. "O-Okay, I guess..."

Sparky smiled. "Don't worry about it. We'll have you three back home in no time."

* * *

><p><strong>Muse X:<strong> Oh look, you _can _be dependable when you want to be.  
>Oh shut it X, I told you all I would post it.<br>**Muse X: **Hmph. What about the NEXT chapter?  
>That depends on a lot of things. Don't forget that my break doesn't officially start until Friday.<br>**Muse X: **You have a lot of excuses.  
>I know, it's terrible. Reviews? :D<p> 


	14. Chapter 13

**Chapter 13  
>Let it Begin<strong>

* * *

><p>Sparky's help was speeding up their progress. Even so, their time was running out.<p>

Speed, X, Alpha and Chim-Chim had less than half an hour left before disaster struck less than half a building away and they had a feeling that they weren't going to be ready to leave before then. Thankfully, they did have an idea of how they were going to get home. Sparky had suggested using something made to hold a charge. This idea later escalated into using the hourglass part to charge a battery. Speed then made the suggestion of improving their earlier idea of using Chim-Chim by having him filter some of the excess power into the battery.

This, of course, led Speed to showing Sparky the robot chimp. From the experience, Speed deduced that Sparky and Connor would be best friends if they ever met face to face without a disguise in the way. Sparky had nearly squealed like a fan girl when he saw the robot. Speed couldn't help but feel bad that X hadn't been there to watch at the time. He would've gotten a kick out of it. After Chim-Chim had been dubbed "the god of engineering" and "the most genius creation mankind would ever have the privilege of knowing", Sparky's ideas had become more possible.

At the moment, Sparky was making a trip to the garage he and Pops worked in to get a car battery. He had said that they had an extra car battery that still held a charge but didn't work properly when put in a car, so they were planning on using it.

Speed was pacing anxiously next to Alpha's bed, X watching him irritably from the chair in the corner of the room, his green eyes lazily following his brother back and forth. He had been sitting there for a little while, becoming gradually more uneasy with every passing minute. Even so, he could detect that Speed was probably doing much worst beneath his determinated façade. "Dude, chill. He'll be back any second," X said. Speed glanced at him, then continued his pacing.

As if summoned, Sparky walked in the doorway, holding a black car battery. "Sorry that took so long. Traffic," he said, handing off the battery to Speed who eagerly accepted. "That's okay, thanks," he said. Sparky smiled at him. "Anytime. Now all we need to do is get this thing wired up and you'll be home in no time."

Speed smiled up at him. He was indescribably grateful for Sparky's help and when he and his friends got home, he knew he was going to miss Sparky the most.

He turned towards Alpha's bed. "Chim-Chim?" The chimp in question peeked out from under the bed. He beeped when he saw the battery in Speed's hands, walking over to it when Speed set it on the ground for him. Chim-Chim already knew what he needed to do, having listened to the plan as it was made.

As the robot went to work inspecting the plugs on the battery, Speed spoke to Sparky. "We honestly can't thank you enough for all your help," he said. Sparky chuckled. It must've been the fiftieth time Speed had said that. "It's really no trouble. I'm just glad I could help," he said, shaking hands with the teen.

Speed suddenly remembered a thought he had had earlier. "Oh, and Sparky?"

"Yeah Speed?"

"Have you heard of a company called Rocket Air?"

X looked up at the mention of his new sponsor, looking alarmed. Sparky was a bit confused. "Yeah, they're pretty big. Why?"

"Do they have a headquarters just southeast of here?" Speed asked. X hoped to every deity he knew that Speed wasn't planning on taking down Rocket Air. Not only was it impossible in their current state, but it was just stupid. Sparky still looked confused, but answered none the less. "No, I don't think so."

Speed beamed. "I knew it!"

That only confused X even more. "Knew what? You're not going to, you know…"

Speed looked at him like he was crazy for even suggesting such a thing. "What? No! That'd be dumb and would probably screw up a lot of the future," he said. "What I mean is, we didn't end up in the middle of nowhere when we teleported here. We were at the future site of Rocket Air, but it hasn't been built yet. Don't you see? We traveled in time, but not in space!"

X blinked. "So, that means wherever we are, we end up in the same spot, but at a different time?" he asked for clarification. Speed nodded. "Yeah! That means we need to be at Racer Academy when we teleport so we end up there and not in the next city over. Sparky, do you think you could give us a ride?"

Alpha piped up before Sparky could reply. "But what about me? If you sign me out, you guys will have to pay the hospital bills and if you don't sign me out, we can't leave."

Speed cursed under his breath. He hadn't thought about that; he had been playing it by ear so far. "Shoot! How are we going to sneak you out?" he pondered out loud, thinking hard and beginning to pace again. X stopped him by standing and putting a hand on his shoulder. Speed glanced at him, mumbling an apology. Sparky opened his mouth to speak, but Speed cut him off before he could. "No. That's way too much to ask."

"You don't know what I'm going to say," the mechanic defended.

"You're going to say you'll pay the bills for us and that it's no big deal," Speed said.

"Lucky guess," Sparky snorted.

Speed thought hard. "We could go out through a different ward, but…" he trailed off. X eyed him. "But what?"

Speed bit his lip and looked at Alpha. "You'd have to walk like you're fine." Alpha gulped. "I'm not sure I could manage that… I mean, I could try, but no promises," he said. "Sorry, but that looks like our only option right now," Speed responded. Alpha nodded, looking uneasy but determined.

"But what about the monitors keeping track of his vitals? They'll probably alarm the doctors when we remove them," Sparky pointed out.

"Chim-Chim can disable the alarms," Speed said. Chim-Chim looked up at them, nodding and bleeping in approval. Sparky smiled. "Cool. Let's get them off then."

Chim-Chim jumped over to the machines, hacking into them as Sparky and X began removing the monitors and the IV. Speed went out into the hallway, checking for activity and the best route to take. After a look around, he returned to Alpha's room.

When he got there, Alpha was leaning heavily on X for support, but standing nonetheless. "This hallway continues on for a bit until you get to an elevator. It'll take us down to the first floor and to the front door a little ways away from the one directly downstairs," Speed reported.

"Good. I'll go out and bring my car around so you don't have to walk very far outside. You and X get Alpha down there to meet me there," Sparky said. The other three agreed.

And with that, their plan began.

* * *

><p><strong>Muse X: <strong>What's this? An upate? Within a week?! *faints*  
>Yeah, Winter break! Happy dance! Happy dance! Happy dance happy dance!<br>**Muse X: **...  
>...Anyway, happy doomsday everybody. No zombies, explosions, plane crashes or earthquakes yet. Yay.<br>**Muse X: **Ugh, my head... I had this crazy dream where you updated _on time _for once.  
>True story X, and if we're not dead tomorrow, I'll post the next chapter then.<br>**Muse X: **Dude. That is so...  
>Cool? Awesome? Amazing? Supercalifragilisticexpialid ocious?<br>**Muse X: **I was thinking more along the lines of 'unusual' or 'unexpected'.  
>Everybody's a critic...<p> 


	15. Chapter 14

**Chapter 14  
>Homeward Bound<strong>

* * *

><p>Speed led the way, X and Alpha following with Chim-Chim at their heels. Alpha was standing and walking by himself, but Speed noticed the way his legs trembled ever so slightly with every step, ready to give way, and the occasional winces that he covered up with a straight face.<p>

Sparky flipped off the light and shut the door halfway as he left the room in the hopes that the doctors would avoid the room, getting the impression that the patient inside was sleeping. Seeing that the others were doing fine, he proceeded with his part of the plan, digging his keys out of his pocket as he walked out of the hospital and to his car. By the time he had pulled it around to the entrance Speed had mentioned, they were just getting to the door.

Sparky released a breath he hadn't thought he was holding as the three of them got to the car and got Alpha into the back seat. Chim-Chim climbed in, sitting in the floorboards. Speed was about to get in himself when he froze, a distinct sound reaching his ears.

It was a baby crying.

He looked over across the parking lot, just able to make out two figures crossing it in the steadily dimming light. It was a man and a toddler, but the toddler wasn't the one crying. The man was clutching a bundle to his chest. As Speed watched, the man knelt, speaking to the toddler though he couldn't hear the words. After that, they continued running, jumping into the Mach 5 as quickly as they could.

Speed immediately knew what was happening.

"C'mon bro, we need to…" X never finished his sentence when he saw what Speed was looking at. Two more figures rushed out of the building as the Mach 5 took off. "Protect the kid! Captain Terror will never get his hands on him!" That was Damian's voice.

Speed was frozen in shock until X shook him firmly on the shoulder. He jumped, snapping out of it and getting in the car. Sparky was turned around watching them. "What is it? What's happening?!" he asked in alarm. "The worst day of our lives. C'mon X, get in already!" Speed said. X looked his brother straight in the eyes.

"I can't. I need to go," he said. Speed blinked. "Go where? X, you can't change history!" he said.

"I'm not going to change anything, but I need to see what happened to mom," X said. Speed wasn't sure what to say. "But, she died! You know what happened!" he finally said. Sparky was horrified, but Speed and X weren't paying attention to him.

"Nobody knows that for certain! She just disappeared. That doesn't mean she died. Plus, nobody ever found her body if she did die, so nobody can know for sure! You don't understand, I need to see what happened to her," X snapped. Speed bit his lip, knowing that whether he let X go or not, he was going to regret it. He groaned. "Fine, but take Chim-Chim. Be quick, don't change anything, and meet us at the academy when you're done," he said. To Chim-Chim he added, "If he tries anything, knock him out and drag him to the academy." Chim-Chim bleeped at Speed, handing him the Hourglass part from his belly. He then jumped out of the car and onto the pavement outside, converting into a scooter for X.

As X sped off to find Trixie, Sparky began driving to the academy.

X was just in time to see his mother being taken. "Take her away. Giant, you're with me. Speed Racer's son will not escape us!" he heard Captain Terror yell. X forced himself to stay out of sight until he had a wide gap between the car that Trixie was being taken in and himself. Thankfully as the small group of acrobats left they didn't have the need to go very fast and Chim-Chim was able to keep up with them for the most part.

They were driving for what seemed like forever and a half before their targets finally stopped in the middle of nowhere.

X hid safely behind some nearby rocks, Chim-Chim morphing back into his normal form and hiding with him. X was thankful that he was still wearing his Committee uniform, the black and red blending with the brown and black of the shadows and terrain around him. Chim-Chim just stayed entirely hidden. From there, they watched events unfold before them.

Trixie was taken out of the car she had been transported in. She was so exhausted she looked as if she would collapse if the man holding her let go. X felt a pang in his heart. She had been through enough already that day; she didn't need these idiots pushing her around. X had to force himself to stay put, clenching his fists in frustration. _'Don't you hurt her,' _he thought angrily to himself.

He soon realized, though, that his worst nightmare was true. Unable to watch any longer, he ran, Chim-Chim beeping in surprise and following along close behind.

Meanwhile, Speed, Alpha and Sparky were at Racer Academy.

It was much smaller than it was going to be in the future. The Grand Prix building where the Mach 6's garage would be in the future had just been added as the need for more dorms increased. Now all they needed was for X and Chim-Chim to return. Speed resisted the urge to start pacing again. Thankfully, they didn't have to wait long.

X showed up around five minutes later riding Chim-Chim, who had turned into a scooter again. Speed helped Alpha out of Sparky's car while Chim-Chim took the car battery out of his stomach and connected himself to it.

"What happened to her?" Speed asked X cautiously. X looked over at him. "What? Oh, yeah. She died…" X said absent-mindedly. Speed frowned. "Sorry." X shook his head. "It's not your fault. Let's just get home as soon as we can." Speed agreed quietly, pulling out the hourglass part. "Ready, Chim-Chim?"

Chim-Chim nodded, putting a metal paw on the part, ready to draw power from it. X reached forward and held one end of the faintly glowing device, Alpha doing the same. They were bracing themselves for transport when Sparky spoke up. "Wait!"

Speed looked over at him. "I forgot to ask; what's your real name?" Sparky asked. Speed smiled. "Speed. My name is Speed."

Sparky grinned and Chim-Chim activated the device. There was a brilliant white flash that forced Sparky to shield his eyes, nearly blinding him. In a matter of seconds, they were gone, back to the future where they belonged.

* * *

><p><strong>Muse X:<strong> Well, that was anti-climactic.  
>It won't seem so anti-climactic in a chapter or so.<br>**Muse X: **Let me guess, you're not going to tell me why?  
>Nope. Spoilers, dear.<br>**Muse X:** Never call me that ever again.  
>I'll call you whatever I want, foo. You're my imagination. Anywho, we're alive! Yay! That means another chapter! And again, I don't know when the next will be. But, on the upside, I get to write the scenes I've been wanting to write since Chapter 5. :D We'll see how that turns out... Sadly, our story is coming to a close. There'll only be two chapters after this one (most likely) but no worries, it'll end on the biggest cliff hanger of all time and I have a brilliant idea for a sequel. ;)<br>**Muse X:** Oh, the excitement. Who doesn't _love_ cliffhangers? *rolls eyes*


	16. Chapter 15

**Chapter 15  
>Without a Scratch<strong>

* * *

><p>Speed slowly regained consciousness.<p>

The pavement was rough beneath him, and his vision was blurred at first as he opened his eyes. He could hear something… Sort of a zapping sound and some sizzling, and it smelled like something was burning. He rolled his head to the side. As his vision focused properly, he could see the car battery they had used, popping and smoking from having too much electricity put into it at once.

"Chim-Chim? Alpha? X?" he mumbled. He could only hope that X was okay, Alpha was alive, and Chim-Chim hadn't exploded. He turned on his side and began struggling to his feet, swaying dangerously as he stood. "Speed!" someone called out, but he couldn't tell exactly where it came from, his mind still not working properly. He felt himself collapse again, but something caught him under the arms before he could hit the ground. He was lowered down slowly. "Woah, careful there. Thank god, I thought you three were dead!"

Speed looked up, coming around. His father was looking down at him, smiling with tears in his eyes. "Dad!" Speed hastily sat up and pulled his father into a hug. "Are we back in the right spot?" he asked quickly. There were so many things that could've gone wrong; they could've ended up five years after their target destination for all he knew.

"Yes, you're back. You've only been gone for three days," Speed Sr. said, holding his son tightly. Speed Jr. sighed in relief, then jumped suddenly. "Alpha!"

He squirmed out of his father's grasp and over to where Alpha Leader was laying, putting his ear to the young racer's chest. He sighed in relief as he heard a heartbeat through Alpha's shirt. "Good, he's alive," he said out loud, sitting back up.

A few feet away, X moaned. "Did we make it? Where's the part?" he groaned. Speed looked over at him. "We made it."

"Good. It would suck to be a year early and have to live with our copies. Wait, never mind; that actually sounds really cool when I say it out loud," X said, struggling to his feet himself. Speed Sr. rushed over to help him up. Speed rolled his eyes at what his brother was saying before retrieving the hourglass part and putting it in his pocket.

It seemed that their arrival had gotten the attention of more than just Speed Sr. as Connor soon came out to investigate, squealing when he saw the group. "Speed! _Chim-Chim!"_ he shrieked, running over to his robot. He squeaked in surprise when the monkey shocked him, excess electricity from the trip still built up inside him. "Sorry about that. Sparky warned that he might be like that for an hour or two. It'll wear off in a bit," Speed explained. His father blinked in astonishment. "Wow, how far back did you go?"

"Just over 16 years. The day before Speed's birthday," X supplied. Speed Sr. paled slightly at the mention of that day. He searched for words, looking at Speed to see if he took it hard at all. If he was, he wasn't showing it. He was about to say something when Connor tackled him. "Oh my gosh, Speed, wethoughtyouweregoneandwewer eallsodepressedbeausewethoug htyouguysweregoneforeverandi twasterrible! We thought you guys were _dead!_ Never ever, ever, ever, _ever_ do that ever again! We were worried sick!" he said all in one breath while Speed tried to squirm free of his grip. "Connor- need… _Air…"_ he managed to say. Connor loosened his hold slightly but didn't let go.

Damian and Lucy were next to discover the trio's return. "Alpha!" Lucy exclaimed, running over and kneeling down beside him. Alpha was starting to come around. He moaned something so softly that Speed doubted even Lucy was able to hear it though she was right next to him.

Damian had run over after Lucy. "Speed! Are you guys ok?" he asked with concern. Speed looked up at him around Connor, offering a small smile.

"Yeah, we're fine. Alpha needs checked up on, though," he said, glancing over at Lucy and Alpha. He could feel his jealousy burning his chest at the sight of them, but he didn't let it show. Damian nodded. "I'll get him to the hospital and call Spritle. He's been worried sick," he said. Speed winced and agreed with him. "Good idea."

Damian walked over to Alpha, picking him up gently so he could take him away. Lucy watched the two of them as they went away to the garage, though she didn't follow. She turned to Speed.

"I'm so glad you all are ok. We all thought you might never make it back," she said.

"It was awful!" Connor wailed.

"What matters is that you three are back and safe," Speed Sr. added, his relief showing in his voice.

X met his father's eyes when Speed Sr. looked over at him. X practically read his mind. "I'm still staying with the committee. I believe in their mission and I'm not going to leave them," he said flatly. His father nodded. "I'm sorry, Speed," he added to his brother. Speed looked troubled, but didn't speak.

"If that's your decision, then I respect it," Speed Sr. said. X looked skeptical, expecting his father to reprimand him and order him to stay put at the academy. His father continued, "I don't believe I'm a big enough part of you and Speed's lives to order you about. I reserve the right to disapprove, though. I just hope that when the time comes, X, that you're on the right side of this fight, whichever side that happens to be."

X nodded. "Thank you. And speaking of that fight, I need to talk to you in private." He turned to Speed and added, "You should hear this, too." Speed was confused, but followed his brother anyway.

X led his father and brother to Speed and Connor's shared dorm. Connor tried to tag along a few times, but Lucy grabbed him by the collar and dragged him down to the garage where he couldn't bother the Racers, much to the restless mechanic's dismay.

When the three of them were inside, the door shut behind them. X sat on Connor's bed, Speed in an office chair, and Speed Sr. on his son's bed.

"So," Speed Sr. began, addressing X. "What's this about?"

X took his time in responding. "It's about mom. I know what happened to her."

Speed Sr. looked confused. He knew that Trixie had vanished and he, along with the rest of the Racer family, had assumed she was dead. He figured that Spritle would've told X that, and Speed would've assumed something similar. Knowing this, he found himself curious to hear X out.

"She's not dead."

Speed and Speed Sr. were shocked. That had to be the last thing either of them were expecting to hear.

Speed Sr. looked a little suspicious, but curious all the same. Speed seemed stunned. "What do you mean? I thought you said…" he began. X shook his head, his expression not giving away very much. "No, if she is who I think she is, she's very alive." Speed was eyeing his brother skeptically, a look that clearly asked for what he was implying.

"Who do you think she is?" Speed Sr. asked, trying to meet X's gaze. X swallowed and looked up at his brother and father, completely silent for a moment before finally responding.

"She's the Shadow Lady."

* * *

><p><strong>Muse X:<strong> ... WHAT THE F-  
>BEFORE YOU SAY ANYTHING! Hear me out by reading the next chapter.<br>**Muse X:** Seriously? :|  
>Yes. If it's not up right now, it will be in a moment.<br>**Muse X: **GAH, whatever...


	17. Chapter 16

**Chapter 16  
>It Just got Personal<strong>

* * *

><p><em>"What?!"<em> Speed yelped in shock. "That makes absolutely _no_ sense. How can she be the Shadowy Woman?!"

"She just is! I know it's her, I'm 100% sure," X said. Speed Sr. remained silent, thinking hard to himself.

"X, you lied to me! You said you saw her die!" Speed Jr. growled, hurt by his brother's dishonesty, but also by what he was saying now. He couldn't see any possible reason to justify that Trixie was the shadow lady, and desperately hoped that it wasn't true. He looked over at his father, pleading silently that he would say something that made sense.

Speed Sr. glanced up at his sons. "How can you be sure? I'd imagine you weren't there long enough to see her actually become the leader of the committee," he directed at X, his tone as unreadable as his expression. It was hard to tell what he was thinking no matter how much Speed searched those blue eyes.

"No, but I have seen her before. Just her figure, but I'd seen it so many times. The first time I thought there was something familiar about her, but I couldn't put my finger on it," X said to his father. "I didn't realize who she was until I saw her in the past, and the things she was saying…" He swallowed.

Speed Sr. nodded, seeming to digest what X was saying.

"What _was_ she saying?" Speed Jr. asked hesitantly. X looked over at him and shook his head. "She was talking to the Car Acrobats. She said that they had the same interests, and that if they worked with her, they could eliminate gasless technology. They asked her what the catch was, and she said that she only wanted the car," he responded, able to keep his voice mostly level.

Speed was confused. "But why does she want the car? I mean, yeah, the hourglass part has something to do with it, but what does she want?"

"To turn back time," Speed Sr. supplied.

The racer brothers looked over at their father in surprise. Speed Sr. wasn't meeting their eyes, his gaze trained on the door in thought. When he glanced up at his sons, they were still staring at him, obviously waiting for clarification.

Speed Sr. took a breath before continuing. "It's obvious once you know who she is. She wants the Mach 6 so she can operate the hourglass part safely. Once she has the technology, she can go back in time. This whole time travel incident may have been an accident, but it can also be seen as a test. Now we all know it works, and that means that the committee will know it works soon, if they don't already."

"But why would she want to do that?" Speed asked quietly, though he could already imagine the answer.

Speed Sr. met Speed and X's eyes in turn. "Imagine your family was coming apart at the seams before your eyes. What could you do?" he said. "Well, how else do you solve a problem? You attack it at the source."

"The gasless engine," X breathed. "She wants to get rid of the Mach 6 in the past so it doesn't exist and can't split our family up like it did…"

Speed Sr. nodded. "Exactly."

Speed was stunned, but X looked thoughtful. "Isn't that what the rest of us want, too?" he pointed out.

Speed and Speed Sr. looked up at him in shock. "What are you saying?" Speed asked, already knowing the answer. X studied his brother for a few seconds before responding.

"I'm saying, that if the Mach 6 and the gasless engine were never invented, then Mom and Dad wouldn't have disappeared and we would have grown up with parents," he replied, almost confused as to why Speed didn't seem to agree with the idea.

Speed Sr. nodded. "It could be an option."

Speed looked at the two of them as if they were suggesting that he should go skydiving without a parachute. "What?! No! That's not an option!" he exclaimed, shocking both his father and his brother. "Why the heck should we give up the Mach 6 just to solve our problems? Just because it's an easier way out doesn't mean it's our best option."

"But it is a solution. You two should've had parents growing up; you deserved better. With the Mach 6 out of the picture, that's possible," Speed Sr. said.

"Speed does have a point, though," X added hesitantly. "It may not be the best option. We would be messing with time, and you've seen the movies. One little thing is changed and the whole world splits."

Speed was about to say something when X cut him off. _"But,_ Dad is making sense. Not only would we have had parents, but without the Mach 6, nobody would have any reason to kill you, Speed. We could finally be safe from all of that. Nobody would have to wonder if you're going to survive your next race."

There was silence. Speed could see that X's argument made sense. He had lost track of how many times someone had tried to steal the Mach 6, using his friends, family, and himself to get it. Sure, he was alive and the Mach 6 was safe, but was it worth it? He couldn't help but wonder about how different his life might have been if he hadn't been in an orphanage for the first 16 years of his life. He shook his head.

"No, we can't just give up the Mach 6. We've been protecting it for nearly a _year._ If we give it up now, all of that would've been for nothing. Why protect it in the first place if you're just going to hand it over in the end? We've gone through way too much. If you want to give it up, you'll have to go through me," Speed growled, turning around to leave the room.

"Speed, wait," his father said, rising to his feet. Speed was already gone. X shared a dismayed look with his father before following after his brother before he got too much of a head start.

It took a while for X to find him. He assumed that Speed had run once he was out of sight, because when he finally found him, he was sitting on the base of the Speed Racer statue nearby the track. He didn't look up when X approached, keeping his gaze fixed on the pavement. X sat next to him.

"Sorry about what I said earlier, I shouldn't have snapped at you two like that. I was just frustrated," Speed said quietly after a moment of silence. X shrugged. "I don't blame you."

More silence. "I know it probably seems like I'd be the one into this whole getting-rid-of-the-Mach-6 thing the most, but I really don't want to give it up," Speed continued. "Being raised in the orphanage wasn't terrible or anything, it was just the way things happened. Sure, I didn't have parents, but it wasn't the end of the world because there were others with me in the same situation. Some of my best friends were teenagers who hadn't been adopted. Some had been there for almost as long as I had. I was disappointed at the time, sure, but I was in good company."

X nodded. He liked it when Speed vented around him; it was a sign of trust, and that made him feel good. He wanted to look out for Speed when he could. This thought made him glance down at the logo on his chest. He was still wearing his uniform.

Speed glanced over at X, reading him like an open book. "Dad's right about one thing, though. Even though I don't like it, it's your choice."

"Thanks." X tried to think of a way to apologize about what had happened when he took Alpha, but he was having trouble finding words. How are you supposed to apologize to your brother for pushing him off a cliff? In the end, he decided to just say it.

"I'm sorry, about what happened… I wasn't trying to hurt you, I just…" he began. Speed looked hurt by the memory, cringing slightly and shifting uncomfortably. "Just forget about it. It happened, it's in the past," he said emotionlessly. X frowned slightly, though he hadn't really expected a positive response in the first place. "Fair enough."

Speed jumped slightly, just having realized something. "Wait, what about when you go back to Rocket Air? If you don't have the hourglass part, me, or the Mach 6…" he began, trailing off.

X knew what his brother didn't want to say. "I'll just have to think of an amazing excuse."

Speed looked up at his brother. "You can take the hourglass part."

X blinked in surprise, completely dumbstruck by the offer. "What?"

"Or you can have the Mach 6. One or the other."

That astonished X even more. "Say _what_ now?"

Speed rolled his eyes. "That's my offer, take it or leave it. I don't want the committee doing anything to you just because you didn't bring anything back with you. She'd probably be happier with you if you brought back the Mach 6, though. Kinda depends…"

X didn't know what to say. The Mach 6 was Speed's most valuable, prized, and priceless possession. He didn't think he could take that away from him. "T-The Mach 6? No way. That thing is way too valuable. I'd rather just take the hourglass part. And besides, weren't you just saying you'd rather die than give up the car?"

Speed swallowed. "If it saves you, of course I'd give it up. But if you take it, I'm keeping the hourglass part. I don't want the committee altering time."

X couldn't help but chuckle slightly. "I'd rather just take the hourglass part. If they have the Mach 6, they'll just build another hourglass. They can't build another Mach 6, no matter how much money they have."

Speed smiled. "True."

"If it's any consolation, I think you'll be the one who decides in the end," X said.

"What?"

"About giving up the Mach 6. The rest of us have our opinions, but I think we're all going to stick by your decision, whatever it ends up being," X clarified. Speed smiled at him appreciatively.

"No pressure," X added. The two of them laughed aloud at that.

They were interrupted by Connor and Chim-Chim, who ran up to them suddenly. They skidded to a halt in front of the racer brothers, Connor panting heavily and Chim-Chim beeping wildly, jumping around and running in circles. "Speed! There you are!" Connor gasped, still trying to catch his breath. The brothers both stood. "Connor, what is it? What's wrong?" Speed asked. Connor was panicked.

"Speed, it's the Mach 6. It's gone!"

* * *

><p>Told you I'd explain.<br>**Muse X: **Yeah, sure... I guess that makes sense. And you make up for it with a MASSIVE cliffhanger?  
>Don't worry; there will be a sequel! I'm already nearly done with planning it, and it shall be amazing. :3<br>**Muse X: **And it will be posted when, exactly?  
>Uh... Eventually? I plan on writing the entire thing before posting, so regular updates but a longer wait.<br>**Muse X:** Wonderous.  
>Anyway, sorrowfully, this is the end. Jut for the record, I've been planning this evil since the beginning. Yes, I'm one of the portion of fans that thinks Trixie is the shadowy woman. However, I do have a plausible reason for everything as you have read. (Which explains that long author's note at the beginning. Just remember that my opinion is not canon, and I'll be able to keep what little money I own. ;) ) Please don't kill me or I can't write the sequel, which I'm really looking forward to doing.<br>Thanks for reading, reviewing and being awesome!


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